Funding Bing Energy

Bing Energy — founded on the work of FSU researchers — offers a tantalizing glimpse into a hydrogen-powered future.

Startup funds for Bing came from the founders, who pooled $610,000. In an initial fundraising round targeting private investors, Bing raised $3 million — half from America and half from China. The Chinese funding went toward creating Nantong Bing Energy, a subsidiary of Bing that operates in China.

The company later raised another $2 million from Chinese and American investors and currently is trying to raise $2.5 million to complete the manufacturing build-out of its Tallahassee facility.

CFO Dean Minardi says the company has received some help from the state, including a $300,000 loan from the Florida Institute for the Commercialization of Public Research. Minardi hopes Bing receives investments from the Florida Opportunity Fund, a state-created investment fund that invests in venture capital and clean energy firms. The fund can match up to $1.5 million that Bing raises from investors.